“1 While Israel was staying in the Acacia Grove, the people began to have sexual relations with the women of Moab. 2 The women invited them to the sacrifices for their gods, and the people ate and bowed in worship to their gods. 3 So Israel aligned itself with Baal of Peor, and the Lords anger burned against Israel. 4 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord so that His burning anger may turn away from Israel.’
5 So Moses told Israels judges, ‘Kill each of the men who aligned themselves with Baal of Peor.'”
Numbers 25:1-5
—
All sin is repugnant, vulgar and a disgrace. From the smallest ‘white’ lie (still just as grievous as any other lie) to the murder of innocents and abortion, everything done against the will and heart of God is an obscenity. There is no such thing as a ‘small’ sin and a ‘large’ sin. All sin is an affront against still God. It doesn’t matter if all of society is engaged in it, or if we are ‘simply following our heart,’ all sin is abhorrent, and the moment we begin justifying the sins we like is the moment that we have chosen self over God.

This sin stands juxtaposed with the obedience of Balaam, a pagan, from the previous chapter. When confronted by God, Balaam at least had the sense to do and say the things that God directed him to say. But Israel, daily witnesses to the miraculous presence of God, abandoned Him in order to ‘fit in’ with the locals and so satiate their own fleshly desires. They wanted justified sex, and so they followed their ‘heart’ rather than obeying God, and their disobedience separated them from Him, and so H e judged them accordingly.

They knew what was right and wrong. They had been repeatedly instructed by God Himself, and had been dedicated to Him by their own admission. But even this didn’t stop them from pursuing the impulses of their flesh. What an awful waste of life and what a terrible cost. Their disobedience cost them dearly.

There is no reason why we should assume that God treats sin any differently today. If we know better, yet pursue sin, why should God react any differently to us? Why should He continue fellowship with the willfully disobedient? Why should our pride override our relationship with God? Why should our flesh take precedence over our loyalty and obedience and thankfulness to the One who first loved us, and gave up His Son for us? Why should we take the sacrifice of Jesus and so quickly set it aside for a temporary gratification of sin and self?

We cannot hold a double allegience. We cannot think for a moment that God is okay with us spending some time and effort and heart on. him, but then dedicating the rest of our efforts on self and sin or anything else. Not for a moment! YHWH is jealous for us. Not in the petty way that we get jealous, but with His righteous jealousy because He is worthy of all our efforts and praise and worship and service and loyalty and obedience. He isn’t worthy of just some of our efforts, but of all of our efforts, and the moment we forget that is the moment that we begin to walk away from Him, denying His great love for us and His holiness. Nothing for a moment is about us, or gratifying any base desire that we may have. It is 100% about Him, every moment of every day, it is about Him. Every thought and inclination of our hearts should be for Him, because He is worthy. And if we are going to GoLove people In a way that they can see and understand this understanding in us, then consistency is key, and. Our loyalty to God is going to be a marker of a life truly lived for Him, rather than a divided loyalty that leads to nothing.